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„GOD, NO!“ Horatio´s scream could be heard through the whole bottom of the ship.
“Come on, you engaged on this bet by your own free will.” was the response of his friend William.
“Maybe e´ just said yes because e´ was sure e´d win, right Mr. Boooosh?” Cotard grinned at his object of desire showing white shining teeth and a seducing gaze.
“Oh, and what was that earlier about getting a new wardrobe for me Major? As if you weren´t so sure of yourself.” Bush pointed out with an eyebrow risen.
“Hmmm, s´ was just the sheer joy of imagination mon amie.”
“Stop it, both of you!” Horatio slammed his hands on the table.
“There is no way I´m doing this! The Admiralty will be there tomorrow evening. Admiral Pellew will be there. What would they think if they see me like this?”
“Horatio, a bet is a bet and you lost it. Or won, depends on the way you´re looking at it. Also, you know that you always have to pay your debts.
I´m sure they will understand if you explain it to them.” William tries to calm him down.
“I think the most fun part is where e´ has to explain who came up with the idea in the first place!” Cotard snorted.
“Andre please, don´t torture him anymore. The next evening will be enough for a man to stay humble at least for a month- better than being on half rations.” even William couldn´t hide a grin anymore.
The Idea of his Captain and best friend dressed like that made him feel like they were young midshipmen again.
Careless, always looking for adventures and doing all kind of crazy things when ashore.
Thank god the topic didn´t yet turn to all the things orderly Mr. Bush did in his youth.
“Mr. ´Ornblower I think I found just the right “uniform” for you on my walk with William yesterday. I´d be a pleasure to accompany you.
And it is always good to have a French gentleman with you when it comes to making a decision in regards of fashion and aesthetics.” Cotard winked at him.
“You don´t mean… “that one” Andre, do you?” William turned to the Frenchman questioning.
“Oh, indeed je fais! I´d look wonderful on him, don´t you think so too, William?”
Scared of his Captain´s reaction to his answer he just nodded slightly.
Conceal don´t feel, even with a bit of wind taken out of Horatio´s sails by the grog he could still turn into a force of nature when provoked.
There was no reason to upset him even more today.
He´ll probably have a sleepless night anyway when he thinks about how Cotard would drag the poor boy into the tailors store and make him wear all kind of garments.
Not that the thought didn´t amuse him, but he was sure glad that he wasn´t the one that lost the game.
Cause that Frenchmen would break hell loose if William had been the one to dress up.
Not to imagine what would happen afterwards…
The next day Horatio couldn´t even open the door to take a quick walk outside alone when William and Andre took the poor lad by his shoulders and led him into town to the tailors place.
There was a shade of defeat in Horatio´s features when they stood in front of the shops door and he could take a quick look on the extravagant dresses and gowns in the display.
“Well then, Mister ´Ornblower, shall we dress you up?” Cotard was especially cheerful today and even caused the lad to stumble when he pushed him through the door exitedly.
“Welcome Gentlemen! How can I help you? Are you in need of a new Waistcoat maybe? the tailor greeted them.
“No no, we´re looking for something… different. You see, our friend ´ere has to attend to the ball of the Admiralty tonight
and we require a special kind of garment for this occasion.” Cotard´s eyes wandered to the frilly dresses in the corner.
“Oh so you need a present for a charming young lady who will accompany him?”
“Y-Yes! That´s exactly why we´re here!” Horatio stuttered out before anyone of these other 2 men in the room, his so called friends could say otherwise.
“Well and do you Gentlemen by chance know her sizes?” the tailor asked suspicious.
“Bien súr, that´s why we brought our friend here with us. He will try them on, he has the exact same size. If the dress fits him we´ll take it.” Cotard warbled.
“The other adjustments can be made at the lady´s place in time.” William added to save the last bit of dignity Horatio might had at this point.
Secrets spilled – his dignity has buried itself last night at the shore with probably no intention of ever coming back.
The tailor then began to show the party a variety of dresses but was interrupted by Cotard who was aiming at the frilliest dress in the entire store.
“This one is gorgeous! Mr. ´Ornblower, why don´t you try it on?”
Before he could object Cotard fetched the dress from the mannequin much to the tailor´s indignation and told Horatio to strip down.
William just stood there watching the whole theatre of a lively Cotard tearing on the clothes of his Captain who´s been trying to fight the fumbling hands from the Frenchman with apparently no success.
When Andre managed to finally strip him down to his breeches he earned at least two slaps in his face from Horatio but he didn´t bother.
William recalls that there has to happen much more to Cotard than a few slaps and harsh words.
Secretly he smiled to himself at the memory of the first night he and Cotard spend together.
“What in heavens name is so funny William???” Horatio barked.
“N..nothing, Sir” William tried to act serious but the sight of Hornblower in a frilly dress took all the sting from the question and the reply was more of a muffled laughter.
“You´re making fun of me, right? If even you can´t hold a serious face, how will others be able to? Do I look like a god damn joke?” by now Horatio was at the edge of tears.
This was too much. Yesterday it was all fun and games but to find himself in this situation when even William was laughing at him was beyond worse.
“Horatio…” William began softly because he noticed if he didn´t act now Horatio would probably just burst out of the store screaming.
“I wasn´t laughing at you. This image just made me recall a memory from the past.” He lied.
“But I have to say this dress doesn´t suit you right.” William pointed out.
“Mon dieu! It is perfect, what do you mean! It has frills and it exposes just the right amount of skin in the right places!” Cotard argumented.
“Andre, you can´t put him in a light pink dress. That is probably too much.”
“Too much? Mister Boooosh, since when are you an expert in woman´s clothes? I´ve never even seen you with a lady before and I...”
“That´s enough!! Could you stop talking like I wasn´t here?” it was only moments before Horatio was going to lose it.
The 2 elder men shot challenging glazes to each other one last time and then focused back on the topic.
“I think something more decent would fit you Horatio. “ William stated.
“Decent… decent is just another word for boring in Paris.” bitched Cotard.
“It might escaped your mind Andre, but we are in England here. Why don´t you make yourself useful and get the tailor to show us some other dresses?”
“Well, I would. But ´e´s not ´ere anymore.”
“He left in a hurry when you started to strip our Captain. So will you now go and get him from the next room?”
Without any reply Cotard swallowed down the comment on his tongue and turned on his heel to the other room.
“William… this is horrible.” came Horatio´s small voice when the Frenchman left the room.
“Yes, he can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.” William tried to loosen the stiff situation.
“I am not going to wear this… this is too much. Not speaking about Cotard, but yes, he also.”
“I know, let us look over there again and I´m sure we will find something you feel comfortable in.” William offered him his hand.
By the time Cotard came back with the tailor the two friends were inspecting some black long sleeved dresses.
There was no way they were serious about this, he thought.
“So, our friend ´ere is not pleased with the dress ´e´s wearing right now and demands something more “decent”...” Andre gestured to the tailor.
“It really is a daring dress, no question. But for a lovely lady I wouldn´t pick something simple and black like this,
exept you´re planning to take her to a funeral.” The tailor rose an eyebrow at the dress William was pressing to Horatio´s chest.
“Exactly my thoughts! Well, I´m sure you have something better than this.” Cotard and the tailor exchanged gazes.
“She doesn´t like to show much skin and it would be great if it had a more common color. Nothing with pink and purple if you please.” William tried to negotiate.
“Just one moment!” and then the tailor drove off.
He came back with a huge pile of ivory colored fabric in lace and ruffles.
“I think you thought about something like this Gentlemen.” The tailor handed the fabric pile to Cotard and left as quickly as he did the first time.
No need to witness that comedy of a strip show again.
And while William tightened the lacing of the new dress on Horatio´s back, Cotard circled around them making strange noises and Horatio was sure the Frenchman had lost it now.
When everything was set William pulled back to take a look on his friend.
It fitted Horatio´s statue perfectly and he was at a loss of words for a moment.
Horatio looked like a princess with the beautiful dress. It had short sleeves and exposed his neck and collarbones.
The waist was laced so it looked really small and feminine.
With Horatio´s hair hanging loose over his shoulders you could really mistake him for a woman.
A really pretty one to be honest.
“Mister ´Ornblower, that looks fantastic! This is it! This HAS to be it!” Cotard last shouted in Williams face.
“You really think so? I feel like packed in blankets. It has 3 skirts!” Horatio pulled at the underskirts.
“Doesn´t matter, this looks really good on you.” William stated with a honest smile.
Seems like the decision was made and Horatio payed the tailor and a shilling extra for the scene they caused in the store.
If a visit at the tailor was that embarrassing he didn´t want to know about tonight.
It will probably be a disaster and he could only hope others would take this joke with a smile rather than judging him.
The night-
Horatio kept tugging and pulling at his dress. It was laced so tight to give him a smaller waist he could barely breathe.
He wondered how women endured this torture a whole day long. His hair fell curly over his shoulders and Andre insisted he should put on some dark eyeshadow.
While he first fended it off, he was surprisingly pleased when confronted with the result in the mirror.
The Frenchman did a good job indeed.
William was at his side when they marched through the front doors of the estate and Horatio was ready to be buried alive at this point.
When they entered the hallway the other guests turned to the 3 men (or woman?) and Horatio was sure they were judging him.
William found familiar sailors and headed for them.
Horatio pulled back to the bar with refreshments in fear they would recognize him.
Approaching the table with refreshments Horatio swallowed down 2 full glasses of port at once and even that couldn´t ease his nerves.
He was just aiming for the third one when a familiar voice sounded behind him.
“I´ve never seen a lady that thirsty for port.”
Oh no. Please god. No…
He knew to whom that voice belonged and out of all people this was the least person he wanted to explain all this to.
He didn´t turn around and hoped he would just walk away if he didn´t respond.
But his opposite engaged on further conversation.
“It seems you enjoy it Miss. Do you mind if I invite you for one glass? It is always better to drink in company.” The familiar voice stated.
“ I.. ehm. Ha-hm gladly.” Horatio managed in the softest voice he could provide.
“Well, then. 2 glasses for me and the lady please.”
“Thanks.” When Horatio accepted the glass he made sure not to turn his face to the man next to him.
“Normally you hold a conversation face to face Miss. Won´t you even turn around to a nice Gentleman who offered you a drink?
Or do you maybe want to hide something? Then I have to state that you possibly don´t have anything to hide exept a beautiful face.”
There was no way out of it now.
He had to face his fears.
He gluped down the port and turned around starring at the ground not being able to look the man in front of him in the eyes.
“There like I said a beautiful face and…” the man stopped.
“H-Horatio? Is that you?”
Daring to lift his eyes he looked into the eyes of Admiral Edward Pellew.
He could spot wonder, questions and something else he couldn´t quite indicate.
“Mr. Hornblower... I´d have never expected this.” The Admiral was fighting for words.
“Me neither, Sir… It´s ..it´s not what you think!” Horatio answered shyly.
“And what, if you excuse the question did you think I was thinking?” Pellew´s eyes rested on his face.
“That um... maybe you… supposed to...” He stuttered helplessly.
Truth was he didn´t know what he was thinking.
He was never good at reading Pellew´s thoughts and he always just hoped for the best.
“I was thinking that you look good Horatio.”
There it was again.
The Admiral was using his first name for the second time this evening and hearing that he felt a bit less uncomfortable and on the other hand more uncomfortable on a very different topic.
“Thank you, Sir…”
“I already wondered where you´ve been. I saw Lieutenant Bush and usually you two are always together. I almost feared you´d ditch my invitation.”
“No, Sir. I merely thought it would be better if I hold myself back for tonight, especially in that kind of ….garment.” and there Horatio was fumbling at the lace of his dress again.
“Why would you hold yourself back? I don´t see a reason to it.”
“Ha-hm... well I don´t think it would be appropriate if a Captain of his Majesties Navy presented himself to his fellow officers in a woman´s gown.”
Pellew seemed to be thinking really hard at that one because he could see the wrinkles coming to place on his fore head.
“I also don´t want to bother you anymore Admiral. If you excuse me I will head for the balcony outside.” and without waiting for a reply Horatio rushed to the balcony leaving a very confused Admiral behind him.
Why out of all people did it have to be Pellew to spot him like this first.
It wasn´t as embarrassing as he thought it would be but his head was still spinning.
Maybe it was the three glasses of port, the empty stomach or the encounter with his former Captain that made him dizzy but maybe, surely it was all at once.
He hid in a corner of the balcony and sank to his feet.
Horatio knew this would be too much and it was.
He had to find a way out of here soon.
He found him outside knees pulled to his body and the head buried in his arms.
The image of a princess who ran away from her home came into his mind when spotting Horatio huddled together like this.
His hair a mess around his shoulders and limps pulled tightly to his body.
Approaching slowly he sat down beneath him with the curtain of the shadows surrounding them.
“Do you have a dry throat?” Pellew tried to engage the conversation because he didn´t know what else to do when he saw his young Captain worn-out like that.
Slowly the head with the black curls lifted and tear stained eyes struck right into Pellew´s heart.
“I´m sorry, Sir…”
“Shhh, don´t you dare to apologize to me now. Here, have a drink.” He handed Horatio another glass of port.
Shaky hands gripped for the glass and for a moment their fingertips were touching.
The moment he realized what was happening Horatio drew his hand back in a hurry what caused the drink to spill all over his new dress.
“Oh.. I´m sor..”
“Mr. Hornblower what did I tell you just now?” came the Admirals harsh voice.
“I told you not to apologize to me, but first things first.
We need to clean you up. I got a room upstairs and maybe even something for you to change into.” He held out his hand to Horatio while getting up.
Horatio took it hesistantly, not wanting to cause more inconvenience to his former Captain.
Pellew shielded him from the other guests by putting an arm around his shoulders while they moved inside and upstairs to the private rooms.
Andre and William came just in time to spot the two leaving for the private rooms.
The cheeky grin of Cotard was enough to let William know what he was implying.
Maybe, he thought, they should both leave earlier tonight since their Captain was in good hands for the night it seems.
When they arrived in Pellew´s stay for the night Horatio was at the point where he was either close to screaming or close to crying.
Maybe even both at the same time right now.
Not only has his Captain seen him in this getup but he even managed to spill himself and look like a total fool.
He didn´t notice when Pellew locked the door behind him and approached the trembling figure.
“I think I´d be best to get you out of those Horatio…” Pellew started with a soft voice.
Since the man in front of him didn´t make any move or eye contact he rested his hands on Horatio´s shoulders.
“Please, you will catch a cold if you don´t switch into something dry…” he tried again.
And with the touch the hazel eyes lifted to meet his face.
“You never asked me why I´m even wearing it…” it was merely a whisper which escaped Horatio´s lips.
“Well I doubt it was because you felt like it… I was also young one day and you can trust me, we all did weird things for bets and coins at some point.” He took a strand of Horatio´s hair in his hand.
“But let me tell you that I have never seen a man wearing a woman´s dress while still looking so beautiful like you do.”
Horatio swallowed but the knot in his throat was still there.
This whole situation has taken a really different course by now and he didn´t know how to feel about this.
It was one thing being exposed to ones superior in ridiculous clothes but a whole other thing to earn such words and praise from them.
His throat was dry like the desert and his heartbeat increased as he searched for the right words to reply.
“I.. I thank you, Sir..”
“It would be nice if you could just call me Edward tonight.”
Horatio looked up in surprise.
This was the first time Pellew asked him to use his first name and it didn´t change the situation for the better.
It made everything more intimate and the young lad was everything but experienced in those kind of familiar situations with his superiors.
“E..Edward…” the name felt strange on his tongue.
“Yes Horatio, now would you please turn around so we can get you out of these port soaked clothes?” Edward rised his eyebrows.
Since the boy in question didn´t make any move again Edward took him by the shoulders firmly and turned him around.
Then he let his big hands glide slowly from his shoulders to his back untying the lacing.
Horatio felt when the first laces were slacking and let out a deep breath.
“Are you okai?” Edward whispered and stopped.
“Yes, I just like that I´m able to breathe again.”
“They really tied you up for good lad…”
He resumed unlacing the back of Horatio´s dress taking more time that was probably necessary.
When finished with the lacing his hands moved up to his upper back pushing the fabric aside revealing pearl white skin underneath.
It was tempting not to touch that neck with tender lips and…
Edward´s thought were interrupted as Horatio turned around to face him.
There was unsureness and questions, so many questions in this young man´s eyes and he wished he had an answer to all of them.
“Horatio... I….” he began.
“Why are you treating me that way… Edward?” his eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.
He knew the answer to that but he didn´t dare to speak it out loud.
The chances would right themselves, hopefully.
It was either taking it or trying to find a way out of this situation at once.
Pulling all of his courage together Edward took Horatio´s face between his hands and bend down slowly.
The lad didn´t pull away nor engaged.
Finally Edward´s lips touched Horatio´s full ones and a wave of emotions held down for an eternity flushed upon him as he devoured his object of years-long affection.
Eventually Horatio´s lips parted to let his mouth being completely eaten up by his superior officer.
When Edward let his tongue slip into the hot welcoming mouth a soft moan escaped the others throat and at that point he didn´t know if he´d be able to control himself anymore.
He broke the kiss and captured the sight of a panting Horatio, lightly blushed and to his relief not disgusted for he was being kissed by his old Captain.
“Oh Horatio… how I´ve longed for this moment…..” he traced his jawline with his finger.
“I did dream of that, surely, but I´d have never imagined it to be met with such a fierce passion.”
“Then why did you do it today Edward?”
“Because sometimes a man has to take his chances. You know that very well, don´t you?”
“Of course Captain. “ and with that he leaned in to give his superior whom he held dear to heart since the day he first served on the Indefatigable another passionate kiss.
Maybe that night was the missing link that would finally let them feel instead of conceal.